Traipsing Darkness
by nomorehappykitty
Summary: Gaara's soul is gone. Sakura is depressed, and now she's moving. Once the school semester ends, she realizes there is a way to save Gaara's soul, but it is at the cost of her own. What will she do to save her childhood love? Sequel to Watcha Doin? No mature scenes . . . unless you want one ;D
1. Chapter 1

Kitty-chan: So here is the probably but not really long awaited _Traipsing Darkness_ by yours truly. I hope those of you who read _Watcha Doin?_ liked it very much and will enjoy this one. Now-drum-roll please-Disclaimer!

White Zetsu: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

Black Zetsu: If she did, I would've eaten her by now.

Kitty-chan: O.o

* * *

Chapter 1

She couldn't eat, the lump in her throat wouldn't allow it. She couldn't sleep, fear of the darkness kept her awake. She couldn't live, it all just seemed to hard for her now.

"Sakura, you need to eat," her father finally declared at the dinner table one evening. Sakura was staring sullenly at her food. She didn't say anything.

"Come on, Sakura. Is this payback for me taking Ame's side?" he asked. Only a week had passed after she had returned from the Sabaku household before her father had filed for a divorce. He had caught Her Evilness sleeping with another man one evening.

Sakura still didn't answer. Instead, she mentally sighed and lifted a forkful of the pasta her father had prepared and shoved it into her mouth. She tried swallowing, but it got stuck in her throat and she ended up throwing up instead, and since her stomach was lacking food, all that came up was a painful dry heave.

Her father bolted from his chair to her side, holding her hair out of her face. Once she had finished, Sakura felt the faint sense of being lifted and then she blacked out.

~(^-^)~

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Sakura lifted her hand to turn off her alarm clock, but felt a sharp tug on her skin that kept her from moving any further. She furrowed her brow, squeezing her eyes tight before opening them and exposing them to the blinding light above her bed.

She turned to the direction of the sound and groaned at the sight.

Heart monitor, and the beats were slower than usual. Probably because her heart felt really heavy right now.

_'Why am I in the hospital?'_ she thought irritably.

_**'Puking up nothing and then passing out in front of your dad might do the trick,'**_a voice she had not heard from since elementary school piped up in the back of her head. Sakura inwardly groaned at the presence.

Voices coming from the other side of her room piqued her interest, though, efficiently distracting her from the voice. For a second she froze, fearing that _they_ had returned, and her heart rate began to pick up. At least until her eyes focused on two human shapes in the corner of the room and she recognized one of the voices as her father's. The other voice she assumed belonged to the doctor.

". . . there's nothing wrong with her . . ." she heard the doctor say and pause, trying to stop her father's protests.

"All her vitals are checking out okay. You said she takes vitamins, which is keeping her healthy, and she's drinking plenty of fluids. The only thing I can think of is that she's depressed," she informed.

"Depressed? Why? How?" her father questioned.

"I don't know; I'm not a psychiatrist. I can recommend you to one if that's what you want, but other than that, there's nothing else I can do. We can't keep her here. There's nothing physically wrong with her," the doctor replied. Then she handed him a card and walked out. Sakura heard the click of the door and her father shuffled over to her bedside. She looked over him tiredly.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?" he asked, brushing her hair back out of her face.

"Like a million bucks," she tried to joke, but it came out sounding hoarse and lifeless. All that time of not using her voice was really paying off. He smiled softly anyway.

"Well, I'm glad you're finally talking to me," he murmured.

"Are you going to send me to that psychiatrist?" she asked him. He hesitated for only a moment.

"Yes," he answered solemnly.

"Okay . . ." she murmured.

"Do you want to tell me why you're so upset?" he asked. Sakura looked away, memories of Gaara's disappearance taunting her. She felt her eyes sting with tears and shook her head furiously. She could hear the heart monitor pick up.

"Okay . . ." he murmured, brushing his fingers through her hair like he used to when she was little and couldn't sleep because she was too scared of the dark. Sakura closed her eyes, forcing back the tears and trying to calm her throbbing heart.

It wasn't long before the doctor came back in with discharge papers and Sakura was steadily making her way out of the hospital.

"Would you like to go somewhere to eat?" her father asked her once they were on the highway. He glanced back at her through the rearview mirror. She sighed, knowing she'd have to eat sometime, and nodded.

"What sounds good?" he asked, a small smile forming.

"Chinese," was the first thing that slipped past her lips, memories from a certain Chinese restaurant with a certain redhead flooded her mind. "No wait . . . Pizza," she pushed the memories away, trying her best to repress them. She stared out her window at the passing trees.

They were doing it again. Leaning away. Sakura turned her attention to her lap, not wanting to be reminded of _him_ anymore.

The pizza parlor her father took her to was her favorite, mainly because of the atmosphere. It looked like an old fashioned pizzeria mixed with a diner. Classic rock was the only music that played, and the waitresses knew everyone, or at least tried to know everyone.

"Well, hey there, Sakura. I haven't seen you since you started studying with Gaara, How ya'll been doing?" her waitress asked. Sherie was from the south obviously, and had never really lost her accent, Sakura cringed at the statement; her father noticed.

_**'Wow. These people sure do know everyone else's business,'**_ her inner voice declared.

"Sakura has actually been sick for a while. We haven't seen Gaara for a week," he lied replied smoothly.

"Oh. Sorry 'bout that, hun. Ya'll want the usual?" she asked, trying to patch up the kind of awkward moment.

"Yes, that's fine," her father answered, never taking his eyes from Sakura, who was slowly but surely starting to relax.

"Alright then. I'll be back. Ya'll get better now, ya hear?" she replied and then was gone.

"What did he do?" he asked as soon as Sherie was out of earshot. Sakura was quiet for a moment, tears prickling her eyes again. Then she looked up at him, her eyes rimmed with red, and answered quietly, "He disappeared."

~(^-^)~

It was a quiet meal. Sakura ate enough to satisfy her father and then they left.

When they made it home, she went straight to her room, her father standing at the bottom of the stairs, not knowing what to do to comfort his daughter. With a sigh, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed an all-too familiar number. A female picked up and answered with a sigh.

"Yes, Hiro?" she questioned warily.

"Yumi . . . there's something wrong with Sakura . . . and I don't know what to do . . ." he admitted hesitantly, worry lacing his voice.

"I'll be right there," and then she hung up.

Hiro looked back up the stairs at Sakura's closed door.

"Sakura . . . what am I going to do?"

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Kitty-chan: well, I hope you liked this chapter. Please review and stuff. Reviews make me happy and motivate me to update faster . . . or at least to update period because yeah . . . I am so lazy. Review and tell me how you liked it. Give me some suggestions of how you want it to go, and I might take it into consideration (I already have it written down. I just need to type it) I guess this is goodbye for the next few days.


	2. Chapter 2

Kitty-chan: Yeah, yeah. I know this chapter is extremely short, but trust me you'll forgive me in the next few minutes when you finish reading it and realize I have also posted a Chapter 3. I hope you like it.

Hidan: Kitty-chan doesn't fucking own _Naruto._

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Chapter 2

Sakura wasn't all too happy with her predicament. She loved her mom and all of her randomness, but having to move in with her out of nowhere kind of bugged her a little.

Okay, it pissed her off. When she had heard the news she was outraged.

~(^-^)~

"_What about my friends?" she had protested._

"_There will be plenty of people to make friends with at Sound High," her mother had declared._

"_But . . . but . . ."_

"_Besides, it'll be good for you to be gone for a while. To clear your head and get over this depression, Sakura. You'll come back," her father had stated, making it clear that there were no more 'buts' about the situation._

"_We're worried about you, Saks. We think a fresh start will help you clear your head," her mother replied._

~(^-^)~

So here she was, riding all the way to her mother's town. She would be starting at Sound High the next day, and there were to be no sour faces about it.

Despite how much she'd miss her friends, she knew this was a good idea.

She would get better.

She would cope.

She would survive.

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Kitty-chan: Well that was the chapter. I hope you liked it. Review and stuffs.


	3. Chapter 3

Kitty-chan: Yeah, I know. Am I awesome or what for getting two-count em TWO-chapters posted in one day. This one is still short though, as are the other chapters, but I hope you like them just the same as my stories with longer chapters.

Kakazu: *sighs and stops counting money I just gave him to do this* Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

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Traipsing Darkness Chapter 3

Sakura sighed. She looked out the window of her classroom. It was the last day of school before winter break, and she couldn't wait to go home. Her mother, Yumi, had said that since she was doing so well she'd let her go back to living with her dad, Hiro. She had never been more excited to go see her friends.

Finally, the bell rang and she bolted out of her seat, grabbing her books and pack and fleeing the room. She was stopped right outside her classroom though by a familiar male.

"Hey, Sakura. I hear it's your last day here," the boy declared, a gaggle of girls were hanging around behind him along with two guys.

"What's it to you, Uchiha?" she sighed. Ever since she had started going to Sound High she had been harassed nonstop by this guy.

"Just wondering how much more time I'll have to see your beautiful face," he smirked. Anything to get into her pants.

"That would be none because I'm leaving now," she glared and tried to push past him. He caught her by the wrist, preventing her from going any further and pulled her close to him.

"You know, it's still not too late to go out on a date with me," he whispered huskily in her ear. She rolled her eyes.

"Get a life, Uchiha," she bit out, and snatched her hand away from his.

"I'll miss you, Sakura," he called out to her as she left.

"I _won't_ miss your ego, Uchiha," she called back with a wave. She didn't even turn around.

~(^-^)~

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"I'm busy!" Sakura called out to her mom, letting her know that she couldn't answer the front door. She was busy taping up all her boxes and making her sure everything was ready for the move.

After taping up the last box and sitting on her bed to relax, she froze at the sound of a male voice.

"You look pretty hot when you're relaxing like that," he declared cockily.

Sakura bolted upright from her position on the bed and scowled at the Uchiha who now stood in her doorway.

"Sakura, I didn't know you had a date tonight," her mother replied in delight, seeing this as a sign of Sakura finally moving on.

"Neither did I," the pinkette grumbled.

Sasuke faked shock.

"Don't tell me you forgot? You said you would see the airshow today. I even got us the best seats I could manage," he declared, faking hurt.

"Oh, please—"

"Don't be rude, Sakura," her mother chastised. "If you promised the boy a date, you should hold true to your promises," she added.

"But—" she was once again interrupted. Man, she hated being a kid.

"No buts. I apologize, Sasuke. She's just been so excited to return to her father. She must have forgotten," her mother apologized for her.

"It's alright, Mrs. Haruno. I know _my_ Sakura, and I like the way she keeps me guessing," he replied looking into the glaring aqua orbs of one pissed off Sakura Haruno.

"Well, Sasuke," her mother giggled—giggled? Ew—"why don't you wait with me downstairs while Sakura gets ready."

"What's wrong with what I look like now?" Sakura questioned, feeling slightly offended.

"You're all sweaty and gross from moving around those heavy boxes. Besides, you're practically wearing pajamas," her mother answered, waving off her question as if it had no importance.

Sakura fumed as she watched her mother pull away a smirking, who gave her long exposed legs an appreciative look before he turned back to her mother.

"What a pig," Sakura grumbled under her breath.

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Kitty-chan: I hope you liked it . . . Sasuke IS a pig. Or at least in this story he is. Don't worry. If you're not a Sasuke fan, the next chapter will be the last time he's in this story. If you ARE a Sasuke fan . . . gtfo. I'm just kidding . . . But I am sorry you feel that way. Ha-ha kidding again.

Anyways, hope you liked the chapter. Please review. . . Don't make me beg. . . Because I will . . . And then you will relent. Review ^-^


	4. Chapter 4

Kitty-chan: Well, no special occasion. I just decided to update this soon. I hope you guys like it.

Itachi: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

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Traipsing Darkness Chapter 4

Sakura wasn't surprised when Sasuke didn't take her to the airshow but instead took her to have a "romantic" dinner at his place.

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes at this. It was all just a ploy to get into her pants, and she would be a bitch every step of the way.

She sat through the meal, zoning out as Sasuke babbled about how rich his family was and how great he was. Every now and then she would insert her own snarky comment, but it was as if he hadn't heard her. Seriously; when did _ Sasuke Uchiha_ get so talkative?

It wasn't until she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder and something—someone—warm pressing against her back that she realized he was no longer sitting across from her. She stiffened.

"I finally have your attention," the Uchiha chuckled. She could _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

"Stop touching me," Sakura commanded, her voice low.

"Don't be like that, babe," Sasuke purred, rubbing her arms in a way she was sure was supposed to be seductive. In her opinion, it was actually kind of creepy.

"Let go of me," she snapped, wrenching herself from his grasp and away from her seat.

He had her pinned down in her seat again before she could react.

"What the hell, Uchiha! Let me go!" she squirmed under his tight grip. She didn't like where this was going.

Sasuke leaned in and . . . sniffed? her.

"Mmm . . . you smell so delicious, Sa-ku-ra," he practically moaned. Creepy much?

Sakura rolled her eyes and lifted her leg in a swift kick to his groin. The unsuspecting Uchiha hit the ground like a sack of bricks.

"Don't _ever_ touch me again," she spat.

Sasuke recovered faster than she expected—apparently being a man whore and most likely get laid every night helps with these kinds of things—because by the time she had made it to the door he had grabbed her, slamming the door shut in the process.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" he hissed in her ear, his hands roughly roaming her body

"Tip from the wise, dude: if you want to sleep with someone, you gotta be a little less clingy," she growled, trying to wriggle her way out of his grasp. Sasuke was very good at holding a girl captive though, so it took her a few tries.

When she finally managed to pull away from him, she punched him in the face. Or at least she tried to. He grabbed her wrist before her fist could come in contact and smirked.

"What are you trying to do, Sakura?" he asked, squeezing her wrist painfully.

"Go home, duh," she bit back.

"I'm not through with you yet," he chuckled darkly.

"I say you are," Sakura retorted, trying to hit Sasuke again. Sasuke grabbed her fist once more and smacked her across the face.

"Know your place, bitch!" he snapped in a fit of rage. He recovered quickly, smirking at—what he thought was—her shocked face.

Sakura didn't cry out in pain, nor did she respond. She didn't know what was going on, but no matter how hard she tried to move, she couldn't.

Sasuke had thought the pinkette had lost consciousness, and sneered, shoving her to the ground and preparing himself to fuck her.

As soon as he had unbuttoned his pants, his erection straining against the fabric of his jeans, something strange happened around Sakura.

Shadows started leaking from her body. A darkness Sasuke had never seen even in his worst nightmares.

It took form in the shape of a man, but somehow remained shapeless. Sasuke's erection immediately fell. When he saw the golden eyes of the demon boring holes in him he thought he was going to faint.

"**You would be wise to never touch my master's woman again," **the thing hissed—a grin showing off all of the shadow's sharp teeth—blossomed in the space below its eyes.

'_His master's woman? Did Sakura have a boyfriend she was returning to? What the fuck is going on?'_ Sasuke thought frantically.

"**You could say that,"** the shadow chuckled.

Sasuke didn't get the chance to say anything before the lights flickered off and then on. Sakura and the shadow were gone.

'_Good fucking riddance,'_ the Uchiha shuddered.

~(^-^)~

Sakura regained mobility outside her house. The shadow was nowhere to be found, but she had this growing feeling, that she had kept since first leaving Gaara in the shadow world as she so called it, that it was still around watching over her.

The pinkette grumbled to herself about how creeped on she felt before opening the front door and nearly running into her mother. A small squeal left her as she stumbled over her feet to make sure the box and herself didn't fall.

"You're right on time. I'm just now loading the last box into the U-Haul," her mother chirped as if Sakura hadn't just had a mini heart attack. "Are you ready to go?" she added.

"Um . . . sure?" Sakura raised brow at her mother's antics.

She went up to her room to make sure her mother had gotten everything and then back downstairs and out the door to the car, clutching a picture she had forgotten to box up. It was a picture of her and Sabaku siblings, when their father had decided they all take a group picture. They all refused unless Sakura was in the picture since she was practically family anyway. Sakura smiled at the memory. She was looking forward to ride home. Her real home.

~(^-^)~

_Everything was so dark. She couldn't see anything. She looked right. Nothing. She looked left. Nothing. She turned around to look behind her, and there was still nothing. So when she turned back around to her original position, she was surprised to see a mass of black, darker than the darkness that surrounded her, staring at her with large golden eyes and flashing a sharp-toothed grin._

"_Who are you?" Sakura finally managed to ask. It chuckled._

"_**You don't remember, Sakura?"**__ it asked, its voice bounding toward her in a feral hiss. Well, yeah that was a stupid question to ask, since this shadow-demon-thing had bugged her in her dreams for the past few months._

"_Yeah . . . how could I forget? But I meant: What is your name?" she corrected herself._

"_**Well then, excuse me for my bad manners. My name is Shukaku,"**__ it introduced itself._

'Well that was easy,"_ Sakura thought._

"What_ are you?" she questioned._

"_**Hehehe . . . That, my dear, is a secret,"**__ it chuckled. Sakura shivered at the evil grin it flashed._

"_I'm sorry, but can't you be something a little more . . . substantial?" she asked, hoping it would say yes. Instead of answering her, it simply changed. Now it took the shape of a large raccoon looking beast that was at least the height of a fifteen story building. It looked menacing and evil and frightened Sakura._

"_Okay, okay. I take it back. You look better as a shadow-blob-thing. I liked that form _way_ better," she declared quickly._

_Shukaku evaporated quickly back into the shadow form it once was. It chuckled darkly._

"_**I can see what that boy saw in you,"**__ he declared._

"_I know it's pointless to ask, but _where_ is Gaara?" she asked. This was probably the hundredth time this monster-shadow-demon- thing visited her in her dreams and probably the hundredth time she'd asked where Gaara was. Each time the result was the same._

"_**Hmm . . . what would I get in return if I told you?"**__ this was different._

"_I-I don't know . . . What would you want?" Sakura fumbled for words. She wasn't expecting this._

"_**Hmm . . . What would I want?"**__ the shadow questioned itself, but from the gleam in its eyes, Sakura knew it had already decided._

"_Stop stalling and just tell me," Sakura huffed._

"_**I want you to be my wife and rule over the shadow world with me as my queen to pay for the boy's soul. And of course this means you have to leave him and everyone else you know and love. He gets his soul back, but I get yours,"**__ the shadow hissed._

"_**I'll give you three d—"**_

"_Deal," Sakura agreed, holding out her hand._

_She would do anything to save and protect Gaara. Even if that meant she had to leave him._

_Shukaku grinned maliciously._

"_**You would give up your own soul for another? For **_**him**_**?"**__ it cackled._

"_Especially for him," Sakura declared bravely although tears were stinging her eyes._

"_**Fine then . . . I'll give you the three days I was going to give you to decide to say goodbye to everyone. You won't be able to see them anymore after that,"**__ he grinned._

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Kitty-chan: If you like it, thanks. Please review. If you didn't like, please review. Tell me how you feel. Thank you for reading, and I hope you liked it. I'll try to post the next chapter soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Kitty-chan: Okay, so thank you to those who reviewed. I will not reveal anything before the last chapter which is coming next. I hope you like this chapter, and as soon as I type up the next chapter I'll be sure to post it.

Sakura: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto_.Shannaro!

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Traipsing Darkness Chapter 5

Sakura was wrenched from her dream as the car was forced off the road, flipping several times before finally settling on the driver's side with the front of the car facing the road.

Her mother groaned, painfully aware of the accident. Sakura could see blood gushing from her forehead and her nose twisted at an awkward angle. Her legs were also pinned under the dashboard, most likely cutting off circulation, and she had cuts and bruises on her face and arms from the glass and the steering wheel.

"Mom!" Sakura called out to her, reaching over to help her mother up. Her hand passed right through her mother's arm.

"Mom?" Sakura called again, her voice creaking.

"Sakura . . . Oh, God, Sakura," her mother sobbed, reaching toward the passenger side.

"M-Mom. I'm fine. Are you okay?" Sakura tried to touch her mother again, but had the same results.

"**She can't hear you,"** Shukaku's voice came from the back seat. Sakura looked back to see a _human_ form of the shadow. He was resting peacefully, his arms folded behind his head, and his right ankle resting on his left knee as if the car _wasn't_ laying on its side.

She had to admit, he did look pretty good like that. He had messy sand colored hair, golden yellow eyes, pale skin, and instead of human ears he had a pair of—what she guessed from his previous demonic form—raccoon ears. He wore a black t-shirt, blue jeans and black Doc Martins. A raccoon tail was settled comfortably on the seat next to him.

"**She can't even hear you,"** he added.

"Why not?" Sakura demanded.

"**Because you're dead,"** Shukaku answered bluntly.

"I-I'm what?" she was _not_ expecting that.

"**You're dead,"** Shukaku repeated.

"Oh . . . That's what I thought you said," the pinkette muttered.

"Then where is my real body if this is me here?" she asked.

Shukaku pointed out the windshield toward the road where Sakura's mangled body lay. Tattered pieces of her seat belt lay on the road beside her. People were starting to gather, and within minutes help came for her mother, who kept crying out for her.

"I knew I should have convinced Mom to get that new Honda," Sakura muttered.

She felt bad for doing this, butt it was the only thing she could do to help Gaara.

"So . . . How do I know you've returned Gaara?" she asked.

Shukaku sighed. **"You're too suspecting,"** he chuckled, but with a snap of his fingers, the scene changed and they were outside of the Sabaku household.

"Gaara?" she heard Temari's voice from inside. Sakura peered in through the window.

Gaara had walked into the kitchen and plucked a few cookies from the cookie jar while Temari had her back turned. He shrugged it off, expecting her to scold him for eating cookies before dinner.

"What time is Sakura coming over?" he asked, thinking that he had just gotten out of school.

Temari froze, a sad expression coming across her face.

"Are you okay, Gaara?" she asked.

"Yeah . . . why?" he questioned.

"Because Sakura has been gone for the whole semester, and throughout the entire semester you've been like zombie," Temari explained. Gaara's eyes widened.

"What?" he gulped, swallowing whatever amount of cookie he had in his mouth. "I've been out for _that long_? I've never been gone for more than two hours." Now he was talking more to himself than anything.

"What's going on, Gaara?" Temari questioned worriedly. Gaara ignored her, his eyes widening even further. He dropped his cookies, is hands flying to his head and gripping his hair in frustration. Gaara searched the depths of his mind for the presence of the shadow that had caused him to be dubbed by his family and psychiatrist as schizophrenic. Panic sank in when he could no longer feel it.

"Oh, God, Sakura. What did you do?" he questioned himself frantically.

"Am I allowed to talk to him?" Sakura asked past the lump in her throat. She glanced in Shukaku's direction and then back at the redhead. She hated seeing him so distressed. She hadn't seem him this way since he was younger and had to be pulled out of school for hearing voices that weren't there. Sakura only now understood how real those voices actually were.

"You have three days to do whatever you want," the shadow—well man-shadow-demon-thing—grinned. He didn't leave.

"Alone?" Sakura growled. Shukaku chuckled.

"Whatever you wish," he grinned and then faded away.

Sakura turned back to the window, Gaara was gone, and Temari was staring worriedly out the kitchen doorway. Sakura leaned on the window to get a better look, or at least she tried to. Instead of pressing against the glass, she fell through the wall, landing with a muffled thud on the linoleum floor.

"Well that failed," she muttered, standing up and brushing off imaginary dirt.

"Temari, where'd Gaara go?" Sakura asked. The blond didn't answer, just grumbled to herself and returned to the food she was preparing. Sakura sighed, rolled her eyes, and left the kitchen.

"Dead ten minutes and _everyone_ ignores you," she mumbled.

She wandered out of the kitchen and up the stairs, her first goal to head to Gaara's room.

The first thought that occurred to her by the time she reached the top of the stairs was that she had never been to Gaara's room. Sadly out of the many years she had known him, they had kept everything that they did downstairs.

'_Man, how am I going to find his room if he's never showed me where it is?'_ she grumbled in her head, wandering the upper floor.

She paused when she reached Kankuro's room, hearing muffled noises coming from the inside. Sakura could've sworn she heard a female moan her best friend's name, and that's when she decided to quickly move on. She gagged as she hurried down the hall, not caring to know what they were doing.

'_Guess I'll just have to check all the rooms,'_ she thought begrudgingly. _'Damn the Sabakus and their large house,'_ she added tearfully.

So Sakura began her search, ruling out all the rooms she was aware of and checking every door she found. When she had searched every room in the floor and still hadn't found the redhead, Sakura thought she was going to cry.

'_**Check the basement,'**_ a voice she hadn't heard from since she was little whispered in the back of her head.

'_But I've never been in the basement before,'_ Sakura thought a little fearfully. Sadly, she was seventeen years old and she was a little scared of the dark.

Okay after recent events she was _a lot_ scared.

'_**Exactly,'**_ the voice declared. Sakura gulped but proceeded downstairs and through the rooms until she found the one that led to the basement.

With a shaky breath—that she couldn't understand why she would be taking one—she pushed through the basement door.

The stairs down seemed to take forever and the darkness wasn't helping. When she reached the bottom and pushed through another door, she was surprised to see a dimly lit, well-organized room. The redhead she had been searching for sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands and staring at the floor.

Sakura gave a quiet sigh of relief and glanced around the room. It was really well kept and not at all what she expected.

"Nice room . . . not like you can hear me," she mumbled with a nod and glanced back at Gaara. What she had especially not expected was that he would be looking back.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh, shit."

"What have you done?" he asked. Sakura had been expecting anger, but again he surprised her by sounding hurt. She could see his eyes brimming with tears.

"I saved you," Sakura answered without moving her eyes from his.

* * *

Kitty-chan: well, that all was probably a shocker. I hope you liked the chapter. Please review. Kitty-chan likes reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

Kitty-chan: Sadly, this is the last chapter, and it is a very short last chapter. I hope you like it all the same though . . . and please don't kill me when you finish it.

Gaara: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

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Traipsing Darkness Chapter 6

Sakura stood in front of Gaara, not daring to look away. It had been so long since she had seen him, so long since she had felt her heart flutter—which slightly concerned her since she was supposed to be dead—at his gaze. She had really missed him.

"I'm so glad to see you well," she murmured, reaching forward to grasp his hand, but her hand passed right through his. Pain gripped at her heart as she let her hand fall back to her side.

Gaara chuckled bitterly. "I wish I could say the same for you," he stared at her longingly.

Sakura smiled sadly.

"Why would you do this, Sakura?" he asked her.

"Because I love you," she answered without hesitation. There was really no other way to tell him, and if her dying for him wasn't proof enough, she didn't know how else to let him know.

Gaara's eyes widened at her proclamation, and she could see the pure agony displayed on his usually emotionless face.

Rage replaced this pain in an instant and he glared at her, bolting from his spot on the bed to hover over her. Sakura took a startled step back.

"G-Gaara?" she stuttered.

"Why are you here?" he snapped.

"I—"

"Did you come to torture me?"

"No, I—"

"To yet again hold something, I can't have, in my face?"

"No, Gaara—"

Are you intentionally trying to break me _again_?"

"Gaara!" Sakura yelled, efficiently silencing the redhead who had silent tears now gliding down his cheeks. Sakura had never seen a guy cry, much less _Gaara_. It crushed her to see she had been the one to cause him this pain.

"I didn't mean to hurt you . . ." she started. "I just . . . I just wanted to say goodbye . . ." she now felt her own tears spilling over as well. "I . . . I didn't want to leave until I made sure you were okay," she added, her voice cracking on her words. Gaara's rage melted away. "I didn't mean to hurt you . . ." she repeated and though she couldn't touch him, she moved forward and pressed her lips against his. Well, she didn't press her lips on his, but it was as close to a kiss as she was going to get. The shock that marred his face made Sakura smile.

"I promise not to forget you . . . and to come back if I can . . ." she murmured, summoning Shukaku from wherever he was.

Right as Sakura was starting to fade, being pulled to wherever Sakura wanted her, Gaara reached forward, trying to brush her cheek with his hand.

"I'll be waiting for you . . ." he murmured, sadness evident in his eyes. Sakura smiled softly. That was about as close to an 'I love you' as she was going to get.

"I know . . ." she breathed, and then he was gone from her sight.

"**Well, I hadn't expected him to be able to see you,"** a sickeningly familiar voice cackled. She could feel him wrap his human form's arms around her waist delicately—as if he was afraid he would break her—and Sakura shivered in disgust.

"**Did you tell him the price for his soul?"** he grinned evilly as he whispered in her ear.

"You know I didn't . . ." she answered.

"**Does that mean he's not invited to the wedding?"** Shukaku chuckled wickedly.

"I would never hurt him like that," Sakura declared.

"**I see . . . That will soon change . . ."** he smirked, and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Can I just go see my dad now?" she grumbled.

"**As you wish, my queen,"** the demon shadow whispered huskily in her ear.

~End~

* * *

Kitty-chan: Like I said: Please don't kill me. If you many of you want it bad enough I will write a one shot or another short sequel to this so that Sakura and Gaara get back together. I hope you enjoyed this series, and please review and tell me how you liked it.

~peace

nomorehappykitty ^_^


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